Freedom from Extremes (Retreat Talk) 

Fortunate to be at this retreat and it is impossible to overstate just how ordinary and likeable Angelo is as a person while also delivering delusion-shattering wisdom in the most compassionate and thoughtful ways. He is impressive as much for his compassion and obvious caring for people as he is for his deep insight. Humanity is lucky to have him around.

Hello, Angelo and All, This will likely be a clumsy attempt to speak to something extremely subtle… For years now, I have listened to you and others on this channel with such relief and gratitude. I have expressed this voluminously, sometimes ad nauseum, in comments here. Literally hundreds of talks and interviews consumed and digested like food I never even knew existed. This gratitude is alive even as I listen to this retreat talk. That said, here’s the subtle part. As much as I’m inspired by these teachings, reminders, and inspirational stories of awakening, there is an ever so subtle dissonance experienced. And I wonder if it may be one aspect of the resistance/frustration/anger you say people express about these teachings. Simply put, I don’t doubt that many people go through this process in the ways described, but my experience of the unfolding is quite different. No “first awakening,” no dramatic shift in perception. Just an ever so gradual falling away of the me, identity, conditioning, whatever. So gradual it is easy to miss or discount. Even cumulatively, it can seem imperceptible. I have no doubt that the people experiencing sudden and dramatic awakening are for real. I am grateful for their inspiration. I’m so glad to know that unfolding/de-conditioning can happen like this. However, I wonder if part of the frustration of a portion of your listeners doesn’t come from a similar experience to mine? And how much of this might be softened by more exploration of unfoldings that are taking place in quieter, less dramatic ways? You say again and again that every awakening and every individual experience will be different. But after listening to SAA for more than two years, it’s my experience that there is this subtle message conveyed that, for all its variations, awakening tends to take place along a somewhat predictable timeline. First awakening, shadow/emotion work, deepening realization, etc. Of course this is valuable experience and information to share, and is clearly leading many to spontaneous awakening and dramatic shifts in perception. But at least for me, the repeated repetition of this timeline as essentially a given (again, very subtly) leads to a kind of group-think that this is actually “how awakening happens.” At first I was resistant and reactive to this. But slowly, as I’m simply more accepting of how things are unfolding here, it’s just perceived as this ever so subtle distortion in the clarity and liberating truth of what is being communicated here. Yes, it’s a clumsy comment, but it seems to be the best I can do for now. I’ll close with a story that describes the more mundane nature of the dissolution here: I used to be an avid gardener. One year I grew a GIANT Blue Hubbard squash, maybe 30 pounds or so. Living in a drafty old farmhouse, I stowed it in a cool corner under the eaves, thinking it would keep well there. I saw it every day as I walked in and out of my bedroom Unbeknownst to me, a family of rats had moved into our house that winter. Without my noticing, they had chewed a small hole in the back, just large enough for them to sneak inside and feast on orange flesh night after night. When I finally crawled into that corner one day to retrieve the squash for some upcoming feast, the shell simply collapsed in my hands. It had been completely hollowed out. That’s what this whole process feels like to me. No great awakening, nothing dramatic. Just an ever so gradual disappearance of something that once seemed so substantial, eaten away by forces I didn’t even know were at work… 🙏🏼🫥🌻

Long time seeker/ ponderer 13+ years. Don't stop pulling the rug out from under us ever please. This talk took me to the miss I have been missing. Now to try and stay here looking in at what arises resistance with out the minds interpretation. Thanks

IMHO, I found the pace and tone of the message delivery in this specific video even more effective than all the other great videos on this channel. There is something about the calm, relaxing and slower paced delivery style of this video that created larger gaps between my thoughts. In other words, the communication was more than the spoken words in this video. I can't imagine how effective it must have been in person during the retreat. Note to "Self": do not miss the next retreat!

Thanks for making this post available to everyone❤

✨ very,very clear….what isn't a message….and yet ❣️😄

That last 30 seconds felt like a mic drop pointer, I’ve gone back over it several times and it just 😌😌😌😌😌

He said, “Stop Everything”

I’m at the retreat- thanks for posting this so we can listen again. 😊 You twice mentioned this week that emotions can get in the way of non-dual realization post-awakening. It would be great if you could go into more detail on this. I’ve listened to every non-duality video in the playlist at least once and engaged in the practices you suggest, but objects still seem to be “out there” at some distance from this Being. Thank you for all you do to wake people up!❤

❤❤❤ oh my gosh thank you so much for having these recordings. I’m at the retreat but I was so afraid I wouldn’t get to hear this again thank you thank you thank you we all love you so much Angelo thank you for all you do.

Thank you for sharing this and improving the a/v quality so much!

I asked my boyfriend who’s not into this stuff 🙃 what he thinks about mind identification. He said it sounds like a waste of time 🤣🤣🤣 and then said “you don’t know what you are; I don’t know what I am.” He’s like a Buddha sometimes 😆

I came across one of your videos not too long ago and I was drawn to your energy

So beautiful. Thank you.

A wonderful and gratefully received talk. I needed some recalibrating. It feels like a retreat encapsulated in a 40 min talk and the rest is just up to stillness. Thank you Angelo.

“The seeking mind endlessly promises and never delivers.” 🤣 politicians and tease 😈

Thank you, Angelo. I’m joining your retreat here at home using your pointers in this video. ❤

Thank you ❤

Love you all! Thank your for pointings!

I wish I could have been at the retreat. I live 11/2 hours from there! This is a great talk.

10:45 👍

What a lovely talk. Hit all the way home!

Oh my this mic quality ❤

I like this new(ish) camera!

💥

Hello Angelo, maybe a stupid question but I'm gonna ask it anyway. A few years ago I was thinking about what it would be like to be blind, because it seemed so horrible to only ever have black in front of your face. But then I noticed that being blind would be like seeing with the eyes in the back of your head. Or non-seeing for lack of a better term. Now fast forward a few years, I was just taking a shower and this thought experiment popped back up and I suddenly thought: 'Hey, this non-seeing with the back of your eyes is the same non-smelling with the sole of your foot. Lol, this is just like a koan.' And then to my shock I noticed that this non-experiencing is literally everywhere and completely endless. Do you have any clue what this is? My mind is very blown at the moment.

🙏🏻

Please do a retreat in Europe sometime!

shush! I'm making pizza tomorrow and the dough need to rest, so please be quiet. Good talk tho ❤

🤗♥️💫

Hello Steam Boat man!😊

Nice headset 😁